On Friday, Jan. 31, the Hopkins men’s swimming team took on Mary Washington. The meet turned out to be a complete sweep for the Jays, helping them continue their already successful season.
The meet started with a win in the 200 Medley Relay. Senior Joe Acquaviva, freshman Evan Holder, junior Greg Kogut and senior Will Kimball were the four-some who took the win with a time of 1:35.29.
Acquaviva spoke on the meet saying. “Our strategy was pretty simple going into the meet: Race. We had just come off arguably our best meet of the year against Navy a few days earlier and it was our last opportunity to swim fast in a meet setting before our championship meets,” Acquaviva said. “We knew Mary Washington had some really fast kids, their one swimmer was even the NCAA champion last year in the 400 IM, and so it was a great chance to race some fast competition as well.”
From there the Jays went on to win every other event in the meet as they won all 13 to take a 154-49 win. Hopkins, who is ranked fourth in the country, finished their season with a 7-1 record in duel meets with the woman’s team. Throughout the season, the men’s team has not let up in any meet so far. Behind an impressive mix of young talent and veteran leadership, the Blue Jays have put together on of their most impressive seasons in recent memory.
Acquaviva commented on the successful season. “We have had tremendous leadership from our seniors all throughout this year, Will Kimball, Anthony Lordi and Dave Woodford,” he said. “They have done a great job of leading by example and pushing the underclassmen to improve this season. Lordi and Kimball are ranked one, two in the 100 freestyle right now nationally and are on all of our relays, which are also ranked high nationally. Our freshmen have also brought an incredible amount of enthusiasm to our distance program. Andrew Greenhalgh has been an absolute monster this season in distance free events and continues to not only improve but also help the other distance swimmers become better in the process.”
The Jays will hope to continue this success as they head into the Virginia Tech Invitational on February 8-9.
“We just need to keep fighting and training until it is time to rest for the NCAA championships,” Acquaviva said. “Since day one of this season our goal has always been to win Nationals and we have not lost sight of that. It all starts with Conferences next week where we have several more guys trying to gain spots for the NCAA championships.”
In addition to the individual work each swimmer has put into the season, Acquaviva also pointed out the impact of their new Strength and Conditioning Coach, who brings an impressive pedigree to the program.
“Our coaching staff is absolutely incredible and with the addition of our new strength and conditioning coach Alexios, who works over at North Baltimore Aquatic Club which is home to Michael Phelps and a large number of World Champion and Olympic medalists, we feel that have prepared ourselves to the best of our abilities for the NCAA championships.”
